Tall Tales from Rhyme City
by SparklingEspeon
Summary: The daily going-ons of Rhyme City- A place where people and pokemon live in harmony... sort of. (Pokémon: Detective Pikachu spoilers abound here... please don't read this until you've seen the movie! [Or like spoilers! If that's your thing, then this story is a gold mine for you!])
1. The One With All the Pokemon Battles

1.

The One with All the Pokemon Battles

Pokemon battling was illegal in Rhyme City.

Preposterous. Pokemon battling was an art, and a pair of battling artisans like Sebastian and Charizard couldn't be held down that easily. That was what led to the creation of The Roundhouse.

It was the number #1 spot for Pokemon Battles in Rhyme City, and also the best-kept secret within the city borders. Naturally, that also meant that everyone police officer to underground battler knew about it. In fact, while the Roundhouse was still in its planning stages, Sebastian had gotten a little too liberal with his information, and the place had been raided by R.C.P.D. on its opening night.

Two weeks later, Sebastian and Charizard were released from the local jail with a new plan fresh in their minds. There would be a Roundhouse Mark II; no doubt about it.

The second iteration of the soon-to-be popular battling spot came with a clever plan attached to it: The Roundhouse Mark II would never stay in the same spot twice. Sebastian played his cards carefully. Trainers itching for battles had to reach out to him and Charizard directly in order to pay for a membership with the club, and membership holders alone would receive a cryptic message containing the date and location of the next event in advance (One particularly memorable event was held in the sewers, to everyone's amusement and also disgust).

It was amazing; the amount of cops and detectives who tried to get memberships from Sebastian and Charizard. Dates and times began to sneak onto the Rhyme City Poke-Net, and the two Roundhouse owners found themselves working hard just to stay one step ahead of the R.C.P.D.

But it was workable. Sometimes the events took place in the forests outside the city (And therefore outside of Rhyme City's jurisdiction), and others took place in abandoned warehouses and reserved parking garages. And no matter what Roger Clifford told citizens on behalf of the R.C.P.D. every week, the police were no closer to catching Sebastian, Charizard, and all their battle-hungry fans than they were to solving all crime in Rhyme City.

The problem came from elsewhere, and it came in the form of Harry Goodman.

A seasoned detective and his chirpy Pikachu showed up to a Roundhouse event without a membership (The current event was taking place at the docks), and had the cheek to challenge Sebastian and Charizard to a battle. He didn't want to rat out anyone to the police. He didn't want battling glory. He just wanted a piece of information Sebastian was particularly glued to, and nothing more. He was lucky Sebastian was a betting man.

And for the first time in the history of the Roundhouse, Sebastian was dethroned as Roundhouse Champion. It came as a shock, even to Harry Goodman. No-one expected Pikachu to scale that metal container at the last moment and Volt Tackle Charizard into defeat, even if it did come with the tragic casualty of Sebastian's coat. It was truly the spectacle of the night. And since Sebastian was a mostly honorable man (And also in public), he didn't flay the detective alive for ruining his coat and scarring Charizard, and even gave Mr. Harry Goodman "Not-the-champion-thank-you" some of the pointers he was looking for. The detective was off in a hurry, and that was the end of that. But what came afterwards was worse.

The creepy mute woman in shades showed up at Sebastian's doorstep a day later. Like Goodman, she had no Roundhouse Membership (And if she did, hers was illegal), and she refused to speak a word to Sebastian, instead pulling a pen out of her pink-tinged hair and motioning to the notepad in her breast pocket. Sebastian didn't have much choice but to let her in, gently stroking Charizard's neck to discourage any notions of frying their visitor alive for disturbing its sleep.

Sebastian led the woman past Charizard's bed and into his small apartment kitchen, where she immediately took a seat at the small table. Sebastian began to fix himself a soothing herbal tea. He needed it after his crushing defeat last night.

"Want anything?" He bluntly asked the woman, his grumpiness showing through his voice. Politeness wasn't in his nature. The woman seemed to take it in stride, shaking her head, but she also seemed to take everything in stride, including the ten-foot-tall Charizard staring her down at that very moment.

Sebastian opened the freezer, taking several packs of packaged meat out and lopping the meat onto a platter.

"Stand back." He set the platter in front of Charizard, hastily taking a few steps back before Charizard bent over and seared the entire platter of meat to a charred husk of itself. It began to heartily devour its breakfast, and Sebastian sat down across from the woman who had watched the entire affair unmovingly.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Sebastian got straight down to the point. Mincing words wasn't his nature, either.

The woman promptly pulled the notepad out of her pocket and the pen out of her hair, and began to write. A second later, she slid the notepad over to Sebastian.

"_Salutations_

_My name is __Ms. Norman__"_

It read.

"Alright, 'Ms. Norman." Sebastian started. "Why are you in my house?"

More scribbling in bright pink on the notepad, and Sebastian even thought he saw Ms. Norman smirk a little.

"_Because you let me in."_

Then, a little further down:

"_My employer (Who shall henceforth remain unnamed for the duration of all future interactions between us) has taken interest in a certain individual by the name of Harry Goodman."_

Sebastian chuckled a little in irony. It seemed Harry Goodman was a proper danger magnet on his own. "What about him? He destroyed Charizard." Charizard looked up at the mentioning of its name, growling menacingly.

"_Then it seems we have a common interest."_

And a common interest it was. Shady Ms. Norman and her unnamed employer wanted Sebastian's Charizard to face Goodman's Pikachu in the ring again next week. Possibly make sure it was the _last_ time Pikachu would ever fight in a ring again. In return, Norman would pull some strings up high and keep R.C.P.D. from crashing the party next event night. The deal even came with a hefty price tag attached, in Sebastian's favor. He couldn't turn down that.

Fight Night was held in a particularly exciting location this week- An abandoned pokemon transitioning cage from Rhyme City's early stages. Sebastian had been saving that location for a special event, and tonight would be nothing if not special. He'd even been able to rope a high-profile DJ into the event with his shiny new payroll. Nothing would replace his coat, though. _Nothing_.

Goodman Sr. had died in a car crash earlier in the week, but Ms. Norman had urged Sebastian to stick to the plan anyway. And now, as Sebastian watched the Goodman boy walk into _his _Roundhouse with that insolent Pikachu by his side, he understood why.

Sebastian's phone beeped in his pocket. His eyes glazed over the short text message on the screen.

"_The Kid's here. With the Pikachu. Do your worst."_

Sebastian pocketed his phone, only sparing a quick glance across the ring at Ms. Norman before hopping down into the audience area below.

"Who are you?!"

He thought he saw the pikachu say something to the Goodman boy, before the shrimp spoke up:

"I'm his, uh, new partner.

"Yeah?" Sebastian walked up to the Goodman boy, Charizard lumbering in after him. "Well, the last time that Pikachu was here, he nearly wrecked my prized Charizard."

That pikachu said something that was _definitely _a degrading insult. "The scar's still fresh." Sebastian made sure the Goodman boy could see the inside of his coat. "And you know why? He ripped my coat, man."

"Oh." Goodman was staring in mild shock at the giant rip in Sebastian's coat. Sebastian let it fall to his sides again.

"We just want to know why my dad was here and then we'll be on our way," The Goodman boy explained. Sebastian leaned in even closer to him.

"Yeah? Well, I want a rematch. You win, and I tell you everything I told your father."

The Goodman boy didn't look all that phased at all. "Yeah, why not?"

And so it was decided, and as Blastoise and Gengar finished gloriously duking it out, the Fight Night monitor proudly displayed its latest match: Pikachu VS Charizard.

R.

Sebastian often dealt it out to other trainers (Under the threat of a slow and painful death should he ever discover it used in his Ring), but he never stooped to actually _using_ it. He and Charizard considered it 'dirty battling,' and thus it was beneath them.

But Sebastian and Charizard had agreed in advance: Today wasn't a true battle, or even a fair one. There was a lot of money on the line, as well as revenge and some_ very_ pissed-off employers (and also very dangerous; if the eyes hiding behind Ms. Norman's shades were as cold and distant as Sebastian imagined). Pikachu_ had_ to die.

Sebastian undid a vial of R right under Charizard's nose, making it impossible for the dragon pokemon to have not breathed in some. He smirked as he saw Goodman's pikachu begin to freak out at the sight of the R. So they'd seen it before.

Good. He would enjoy this so much more now.

The lights flashed, the Loudred blared, the DJ did… whatever he did, and then the metal gates slid open and the battle was on. Charizard ran out and chased that Pikachu all around the ring, still playing with its prey even in its crazed state. At one point, Pikachu even curled up on the ground and begged for mercy in its pitiful pokemon voice. It was _glorious._

Until the Goodman boy did the stupidest thing Sebastian had ever seen anyone do in his life, and _jumped into the ring._

"What are you doing!?" Sebastian yelled, shaking the bars as the idiot boy grabbed his precious Charizard's tail. "Get out of there!"

"Pikachu- run!" Goodman managed to get out as Charizard swung him around. The boy barely holding onto the dragon as it raged. Sebastian had no choice- It was all in or nothing at all. He opened the fighting gate, and ran into the ring himself. He stood in front of Charizard, waving his arms out- the signal for Charizard to forfeit a battle if things got ugly.

But then he remembered- Charizard was under the effects of R. Sebastian realized too late- he didn't have the time to move out of the way of his beloved rampaging dragon before said dragon charged at him rabidly, swatting him out of the way as it blew a white-hot stream of fire at that blasted pikachu.

Sebastian tried to sit up, coughing through thick purple clouds of gas as he recovered from the blow- Wait. Unsure of what to do, he watched the R tendril outwards through the air like a grasping octopi, only taking a few seconds to reach the audience stands. And the pokemon in the audience stands.

Oh, _crap-_

Sebastian never really figured out where Ms. Norman went after that. The last he saw of her was the uncanny woman straightening her sunglasses at him, whipping her phone out and dialing just before the first pokemon began to snarl, and then she was gone. But the message was clear: _Have fun in prison._

All he remembered after that was purple. Purple everywhere. A loudred beatboxing melodramatically as it terrorized the humans of the Roundhouse along with all its crazed pokemon partners. Tim Goodman pulling him up by the scruff of his coat out of nowhere-

-"My father," He questioned urgently. "What did you tell him?!"

Sebastian combed his mind for the answer, buried under the fear and tense confusion of the present moment. "R," he stammered out. "I get from Dr. Laurent. She's my supplier. That's all I know!" He took a well-needed deep breath, only choking out more of the putrid R gas. "That's all I know."

And then Tim Goodman was gone, and next thing he knew, there was a sudden flood of water out of nowhere, and a police officer stood in Goodman's place.

"You're under arrest."


	2. The One Who Never Changed Back

2.

The One Who Never Changed Back

"Aww…"

"So Cute!"

"He's just adorable."

Alex the eevee reluctantly let the humans (and assorted pokemon) pet and pinch and poke him as he made his way to the Pokemon line of the coffee stand.

"Aww, what a cutie!" Alex glanced up in horror as a horde of his worst nemeses towered up over him- _girls. _They were always the worst.

"Where did he come from?" One of them asked, leaning over to scratch behind his ear. If he wasn't carrying a pokemon wallet in his mouth right now (Another thing about this blasted eevee body- no hands!), he would have bit her wrist out of spite. No ear scritches before his morning coffee. That was his rule. And yet, there wasn't much he could do about it, because humans were stupid as all heck.

Not that he could talk. A month ago he'd probably be doing the exact same thing to some poor unsuspecting pokemon heading to the Starbok's Koffing stand for its morning caffeine fix.

In the wake of Rhyme City's devasting parade incident, free therapy centers had been set up for humans recovering from being unceremoniously shoved into their pokemon, and pokemon recovering from having their humans shoved into their bodies. There was nothing set up for poor Alex, who had bumped into an R-crazed eevee during the incident and gotten merged with it, and wasn't lucky enough to be one of the 99% of people and pokemon who got turned back to normal.

It meant that to the authorities of Rhyme City, Alex Harvey was legally dead (after all, who would believe an eevee who just _happened_ to be carrying around a missing human's credentials, even in the wake of the recent incident?), and it meant that for all intents and purposes, Alex was living in Rhyme City as a Pokemon.

Which meant getting the textbook version of abuse every time Alex went out in public as a normal eevee. He'd taken to stalking in the alleyways, where people and pokemon were more concerned with staying warm and fed than they were with drowning Alex's ears in pets. He was sure that if the eevee this body used to belong to could see what he had done with it, it would have thrown a fit.

But, Alex thought sardonically, it wasn't here to see any of that. And then he banished that depressing-and-also-horrifying thought from his mind as he finally reached the service counter.

The dewott taking orders at the counter sent Alex a knowing look as the eevee attempted to speak his order, rudely being interrupted by a pedestrian rubbing him over the head like he was public property.

"Name?" Dewott asked, putting a nidoran's order in a bag for him and hanging it off his horn. She wore a paper Starbok's hat, uncomfortably scratching at it every other minute.

Alex spat out his pokemon wallet onto the counter, wiping the drool off his face with a paw. "Alex. One latte please. Extra extra sugar. And- and please put it in a saucer for me. This body doesn't like cups." Many of the pokemon were giving him weirded out looks at his last sentence, many of them changing to ones of pity as they worked out what Alex meant. Dewott never flinched, though. She started the coffee maker with a click of her paw, pulling out a disposable paper saucer and clawing Alex's name in ink on it.

"'Extra extra sugar;' did I get that right?" she asked. Alex nodded.

"I don't want to be able to taste the coffee at all."

Alex got his morning coffee fix, and then headed on down to his work. There weren't many technical jobs for pokemon in Rhyme City (Who would want a pokemon to operate fragile technology with their big clumsy paws and inconvenient body parts?), but Alex had managed to score lucky in that regard. There was always need for pokemon assistants to human jobs, and he happened to work with a DJ.

"_Please welcome to the stage;" _the announcer blared, addressing the inhabitants of some teenager's birthday party,_ "DJ Vector and his pokemon partner, DJ 'Vee!"_

Every weekday, from when he woke up in the pile of boxes he'd made into his home to when he went to bed in that same pile of trash, he did it as grumpy old alley-pokemon Alex Harvey, the tragic once-human, now eevee. But from 2:00 to 9:00 P.M. (Or whatever times DJ Vector booked for), he cleaned himself up, donned a backwards cap, a gold-painted necklace, and a pair of pokemon sunglasses, and became his alter ego- the elusive, untouchable, boss pokemon DJ 'Vee.

DJ 'Vee twirled around on the stereo, expertly scratching records with all four his paws. DJ Vector tuned the stereo in the background – loudred had become a controversial speaker choice after a certain incident at an underground pokemon fighting ring a few months back – and the Hip-Hop/EDM music that was coursing through the room abruptly came to an end, transitioning into a slow, romantic pop song. DJ 'Vee carefully maneuvered his way off the board, making sure not to hit any of the keys by accident as he hopped backwards into his seat.

Five minutes later, the romantic pop ended – the last song of the night – and the lights came back on, the room filling with applause for both DJs.

"_Yup,"_ DJ Vector coolly spoke into the microphone_. "This is DJ Vector and DJ 'Vee, signing off for the night."_ He pushed the microphone over to DJ 'Vee.

"_Vee!"_ DJ 'Vee chirped into the microphone with the same level of suave. Many of the pokemon at the party almost lost their heads in shock and laughter when they heard what he said. DJ Vector pulled the microphone back to him.

"_We'll be taking questions now, for the next half hour."_ He addressed the audience. _"Make 'em count."_

"You know, there's room in my house for two."

Vector hauled the last of the DJ equipment into the back of his van, putting a stack of dollar bills in DJ 'Vee's wallet for him. "Sure you're not coming?"

DJ 'Vee hopped up and stuck his DJ gear into the van- and just like that, he was normal, grumpy old Alex Harvey again. Vector closed the back doors of the van as Alex glumly picked up his wallet and trotted down the street.

"Look- I know you've got this whole independent pokemon' schtick going on." Vector called after him. "But we're partners!"

Alex stopped, looking back at him silently.

"I see you coming to work every day looking like you've been living off trash in the back alleys," Vector continued. "And I don't know where you live- but if it's there, you're there because you're choosing to be. No-one's keeping you where you are now."

Alex stared at Vector for a moment, trying to process everything the DJ had said. That would haunt his dreams tonight. Along with the usual nightmares of being fused with a pokemon, but he could manage. He'd rather live on his own in the alley then live like a pet pokemon. He barked a 'goodnight' in pokespeech to Vector, and resumed his trot down the streets of Rhyme City to the back alleyway he called home.

Rumors of a Mewtwo sighting in the surrounding forests near Rhyme City gave Alex new hope. He didn't know much about the Rhyme City Parade incident which threw him into this mess to begin with, but he knew three things for sure: a gas called 'R' was responsible, the former mayor Howard Clifford was behind it all, and Mewtwo could fuse and unfuse people from their pokemon at will.

The third one he'd seen with his own two eyes. If he could find Mewtwo, then maybe, just maybe, he would be able to get his old life back! His old life of working a mundane 9-to-5 job in an office building… But any human life was better than all the pokemon lives in the world, in his opinion.

It was why he took a well-earned day off from DJ-ing, and used some of his share of the money from their latest gig to purchase a train ticket out of Rhyme City (There was a pokemon coach with what looked like very comfy pokemon seats, but Alex preferred to keep his human dignity and purchased himself a human seat just because he could).

The train ran all the way down to Verdenleaf, but Alex only needed to ride it to the station outside the city borders, and he could be off. And so, with only a few raised eyebrows from the station clerk and conductor, Alex's ticket was swiped and clipped, and the train was off.

He was seriously wishing now that he'd splurged on getting himself that pokemon bag in the store window the other day and packed it with supplies for this trip (But, he'd told himself at the time, if he was getting a bag it would have to be a human bag, since he wasn't a pokemon). He was parched and hungry from not having eaten the entire morning, and tromping through the woods for almost an entire hour hadn't done anything at all to help him in that regard.

He froze when he heard voices talking in the distance, trying to get an idea of what they were saying. They were human voices. Alex froze. Within the borders of Rhyme City, that wouldn't have been a problem, but they weren't within the borders of Rhyme City. He might as well have just been a wild pokemon up for grabs.

"Are you _sure_ we're going in the right direction?" One of them asked; a boy who sounded like he couldn't be older than nine.

"Yes, of course we're going in the right direction," Alex heard the other snap, probably an older brother.

"I don't know…" The younger boy spoke up.

"Okay, what did you do?" The older one asked, catching on quickly.

"I might have… messedaroundwithitwhileyouweresleeping." The boy responded, so quickly that Alex couldn't even imagine the boy's mouth moving that fast.

"Why?" The older kid scolded the younger as Alex tiptoed through the shrubbery. He looked about sixteen, and his face was red with anger. "Why would you do that? We came here to look for Mewtwo! Why would you sabotage us like that?"

The plants rustled as Alex went along. He really could have chosen a more concealed route, in hindsight. But he was new to this 'sneaking around' thing, and his hunger-addled mind hadn't cared to choose a better one.

The younger boy's face was beginning to tear up. "Because- because it looked fun," he said, letting out a sniffle. Alex couldn't help but look at them, the two being the most interesting thing in the nearby vicinity.

"Well- fun just cost us-"

_Snap._

Alex slowly removed his paw from the stick he had cracked in horror. Both the trainers were staring at him in shock, before the older boy recovered himself.

"Look! It's an eevee! Help me catch it!" The teen suddenly yelled, scrambling up and pulling a pokeball from his belt. Alex took that as his cue to run. And that's what he did. He heard the cubone materialize behind him with a guttural battle shriek, as he pushed his pokemon body to run faster. He knew pokemon could go faster than this!

The bone soared through the air behind him like a boomerang of rage, spinning through the air up behind him and homing in on its target. Alex only had a split second to notice it before it struck the back of his head and sent him tumbling to the ground in a ball of fluff. He dizzily watched the bone soar back through the woods in a U-shape, no doubt going back to the pokemon who threw it. He could hear the shouts of the pair of trainers in the distance, their words indistinct to his fuzzy, ringing ears. Alex shook himself out of that mess and pulled his eevee body back up on four paws out of sheer willpower. He wasn't going to be caught by humans. Not like a pokemon.

So he'd just have to escape like a pokemon instead. He'd seen pokemon perform a technique where they ran very very fast… Quick Attack! That was it. He just had to figure out how to tap into that…

But then an empty pokeball suddenly struck a nearby tree and shattered into bits, and Alex realized he had to _move._ He quickly began to run again, banishing all thoughts from his mind apart from escaping as he ran. He could be human later. For now, he was just an eevee, desperately trying not to be caught in a pokeball and enslaved for the rest of his life. Alex deftly sidestepped a tree as another pokeball flew past his head, landing in a pile of bushes to be forgotten. He was running faster and faster, navigating the forest like it had always been his home…

And then he felt it- the sudden rush of energy coursed through his body, and he was running faster than ever before; so fast he could have easily kept time with a car, or a train… He ran even faster, his ears folding back against his head as he set his sights upon his new goal- staying a free pokemon. His ears twitched ever so slightly- he could hear the bone approaching again from behind him. It rang through the air as it spun towards its target, its speed rivalling even the power of his Quick Attack. But he was ready for it. He had a plan.

The bone approached faster and faster, getting closer to Alex even as he dodged another pokeball. But at the last moment, Alex concentrated all his running power into his paws, and boosted them off the ground-

He struck the bone with his hind paws in midair, landing on his feet as the bone flew off in the opposite direction. There was a loud crack in the distance, then what sounded like the life being smothered out of a bush. Alex kept his Quick Attack going for another thirty seconds just to be sure. He brought himself to a stop outside a rushing stream, digging his paws in the ground to gain traction and slow himself down.

He felt like doing a victory dance in joy; he was so ecstatic! And for a moment, he almost did. But then, slowly, all his thoughts and doubts began to return to him, and he realized: It was getting worse! Already he was becoming a wild pokemon, and he'd barely been an hour outside the city limits! Although, that Quick Attack was pretty exhilarating… No! He couldn't be a pokemon anymore. He needed to find Mewtwo, and fast.

But first, he was parched, and standing in front of what was basically free water for anymon- any_one_ to . drink. He grimaced briefly at the thought of having to drink from the stream like a pokemon, but eventually thirst won out against dignity, and Alex began to lap water from the stream like he'd never drank the stuff before.

Alex walked for what felt like days (but couldn't have been more than hours) in the forest, and the next time he saw a pair of humans walking through the woods, he made sure to steer well clear of them.

But, eventually, the sun began to set over the woods, and Alex was no closer to finding Mewtwo than he had been this afternoon. He felt tired and rugged, his fur almost matted from all the off-road trekking, and the gnawing hunger was finally beginning to get to him. He would have to spend the night in the wild, he realized. There was a particularly appealing hole in a stump left available, especially considering it looked like it was about to rain. Some of the wild pokemon were even coming out in the dying light of the day now, cautiously avoiding him as they went about their business. But he made himself a human-looking bed out of leaves instead, since humans didn't sleep in pokemon burrows. The stump was probably taken anyway.

Going to bed in the rain in the middle of the forest wasn't comfortable in the least. He could see the still-empty stump out of the corner of his eye, tempting him. Even the alleyway began to look cozy to Alex now, as he lay in the bed of leaves he had arranged for himself. But sleep got the better of him, and he finally nodded off amongst the light shower of rain.

The loud_ boom_ woke Alex up again. It was the middle of the night, and the rain was positively coming down in sheets now. He could see the glowing towers of Rhyme City peeking out from over the trees, but the boom hadn't come from there. It had come from further into the woods in the opposite direction, and Alex was willing to bet only one pokemon could have made that noise.

A drop of rain landed in his eye. He blinked rapidly, trying to get the blasted water out. He wasn't going to go back to sleep in this downpour, so what did he have to lose by checking it out?

And so Alex headed off in the direction the large boom had come from, his hopes high but his morale low.

As he walked, he began to smell the scent of sulfur hanging in the air, along with the faint taste of dust. He sneezed, trying to get it out of his mouth. Maybe it wasn't so faint after all. He stepped into a shallow stream that still went all the way up to his mane anyway, and found the source of the boom- In the middle of the cliffside he was facing, a cave had been hollowed out. There was no rubble, no wreckage, and minimal dust- it was like the cave had just appeared out of nowhere all the sudden.

Alex plodded through the stream, passing a stone pillar as he did. Something told him that he was right; that this _was_ Mewtwo's den and not some other pokemon's. who could easily tear him to pieces in an instant…

He tried not to think about that as he entered the cave. He didn't intend to leave it a pokemon.

Once inside, Alex stopped almost immediately. The cave hadn't been dug deep; it was only meant as a temporary den. Huddled in a ball at the end of the cave was the very pokemon Alex had been waiting to meet since the day he first saw it. Alex didn't know how to get its attention. He'd had several ideas; visions of what he would say and do once he found Mewtwo, but they all went out the window upon actually meeting the pokemon. It floated in midair, dimly glowing as it slept, its body huddled in upon itself. It seemed dormant. Alex took a cautious step forwards into the cave, towards Mewtwo-

"_I feel your presence, intruder."_

Alex took a second to regain his bearings as Mewtwo's voice rang through his head. He… She… It (For he couldn't tell whether the voice belonged to a man or a woman) rose up from its spot in the cave, uncurling itself into its full glory. Alex couldn't muster any words, only able to project a wordless sense of awe at the creature.

"_Why have you intruded upon my resting place, little one?"_

Mewtwo asked. Alex's head swam with emotions, but no words- the undeniable awe of meeting a previously unseen pokemon; the quick spike of anger at the patronizing tone of 'little one,' the undeniable fear of what might happen in the next few minutes… Alex found that he was trembling, unable to stammer out anything resembling what he wanted to say, or even words at all.

Mewtwo spared itself a subtle eyeroll, clearly not in the mood for charades, and suddenly Alex felt a forceful presence brashly comb through his head, reading his… thoughts, and memories, he supposed. They flicked open the memories in his head like pages of a book, looking through his motives, his desires, his reasons for being here…

Then, as soon as they had come, the psychic tendrils withdrew from his head, leaving him reeling to keep his balance as his mind tried to resort itself to rights.

Mewtwo patiently waited for Alex to gain his bearings before speaking again.

"_I cannot grant you what you seek, little one," _It said with just a hint of regret.

"Why… Why not?" Alex stuttered out in disbelief, saying the first words he'd managed to speak since they'd met. If Mewtwo, the only pokemon in the world capable of helping him now, could do nothing, then that meant…

"_I am exhausted. Now, I must rest. Then, I must travel far away before the humans reach me."_

"But can't you just change me before you go? I can wait! I'll wait as long as you need!" Alex was almost in tears now. He couldn't stay a pokemon for the rest of his life; anything but a pokemon….

"_I must go to a place where the humans will never find me. I require all my power to travel the distance. I am truly sorry, little one."_

Don't call me that!" Alex suddenly snapped at Mewtwo. "My name is Alex Harvey, and I'm_ not_ a pokemon!"

Mewtwo didn't respond to him. Alex felt no words roll through his head; only a deep wave of remorse emanating from the pokemon that wouldn't meet his gaze.

"_I cannot."_ Mewtwo told him once more, its voice finally showing the full extent of its remorse.

Alex felt a tear roll down his cheek, his ears drooping in grief. It was all for nothing. All of it. He'd travelled through the woods for nothing. He'd slept outside in the rain for nothing. He'd spent two months in Rhyme City, living in a personal hell, for nothing. He sniffed, the tears running down his face in torrents now. Mewtwo looked at him like the pitiful sight was too much to bear.

"_You have a life, L… Alex Harvey,"_ Mewtwo carefully stated. _"I will not rob you of it."_

"I had a life before!" Alex yelled in between sobs. "Now I have nothing!"

"_You have everything you need to build a new one. All you must do is take it."_

Alex couldn't bear to respond to Mewtwo, instead sobbing uncontrollably because it hurt so much, and because it was true. It was true, and he knew it. All day, every day, pokemon went about their lives just like humans, but he skulked in the alleyways and slept in a pile of trash just to convince himself that the only way he could be happy was as a human. He really was the only one holding himself back.

He wiped the tears from his eyes with his paws, sniffing one last time as he cleared his head.

"T-thank you. For telling me." He said. "I'll try to do better in the future."

Mewtwo was silent. It beckoned for Alex to leave, looking at him sympathetically.

Suddenly, a pokeball whizzed by Alex's face-

-And smashed against the wall. Alex saw, to his horror, the two boys from earlier splashing through the stream.

"Look!" The older trainer yelled. "It's that eevee from earlier! And Mewtwo! We struck out! Let's catch them both!"

Alex looked at Mewtwo, pleading for him to do something. Mewtwo only had a resigned look on its face.

"Can't you do something?!" Alex asked. But Mewtwo shook its head.

"_I am too weak. I expended the last of my energy searching your mind."_

It was true, Alex realized. Mewtwo was no longer floating; it stood on the ground with its own two feet, its eyes now a dull purple instead of the brilliant violet they were when he arrived in the cave. He turned around, watching the pair of boys climb out of the stream and tromp towards the cave. He would just have to do something about it himself, then.

He crouched, trying to tap into the same energy he had this afternoon. Now, he concentrated it in his front paws instead of in his legs. As the boys finally reached the cavern, he leapt, his paws glowing with energy as he sent the older boy falling to the ground with a Tackle.

The younger brother had the wits to pull an empty pokeball out of his brother's bag and throw it, but Alex was too fast for him, and he ended up nailing the older brother's face with the ball instead. Alex scampered around the younger brother, summoning the energy in his body again…

He leapt up, flipped over in midair, and kicked the younger brother over with his hind paws. Alex landed on his feet, but the younger brother was sent sprawling into the older one as he was getting up, knocking them both into the stream again. The older brother picked himself up out of the stream, his soaked face beginning to turn red with rage again. Alex wondered if he'd gone just a bit too far.

The older brother pulled Cubone's pokeball from his belt, pressing the button and throwing it onto dry land. Cubone materialized brandishing its bone, its eyes narrowing when it saw Alex. There was a large crack down the skull it was wearing- it must have happened when Alex kicked the bone, he realized. He barely had time to jump out of the way as Cubone suddenly hurled its bone at him, catching the surface of a rock ledge with his claws and pulling himself up onto it.

"No, not the eevee, you stupid pokemon!" The trainer yelled, pulling himself out of the stream entirely. "Get Mewtwo!"

With Alex out of the way, Cubone prepared to throw its bonemerang-

-But Alex crouched, braced himself, and leapt down. His front paws hit the ground with pokemonic energy flowing through them as he did a backflip and pounced Cubone before it could throw its bonemerang at Mewtwo. Cubone leapt onto Alex, pulling at his mane and biting at his face viciously. Alex landed against the ground hard as Cubone continued to maul at his face, even managing to bite his nose once. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the trainer tromp towards the cave, pulling a pokeball from his belt as he went. Alex concentrated all his energy in his head, and headbutted Cubone.

It barely hurt for Alex. But he saw Cubone almost fly back as it fell into the water, its skull-mask breaking completely in half as it entered the stream. That was the last Alex saw of it. He scurried back to the cave as the older trainer entered it.

"Vee-_Vee!"_ He yelled at the trainer. Sure enough, the teenaged boy turned around, an amused sneer on his face.

"What are you gonna do? Huh?" The boy asked. Alex began to growl half out of anger, half out of spite, the fur of his mane bristling. "Tell me!" The boy sneered. "That's right. Nothing." He began to turn around, walking for the cave. Alex narrowed his eyes at the boy, scoping out his target. He was beginning to feel exhausted, but he gathered enough energy in his paws for one last jump. And jump he did. Right over the trainer's head. He flipped himself around in midair and delivered a swift Scratch to the boy's face on the way down. The boy slowly raised a hand to his head in disbelief, silently looking at the blood on his hands from the scratch marks Alex had caused.

He silently looked back up at Alex in horror, too stunned to say anything.

Alex snarled again, just for him. That's when the trainer made a break for the stream, barely even looking at his younger brother on the way. The young boy looked at Alex and Mewtwo fearfully, before dashing off to follow his brother.

Alex fluffed up his mane proudly as they ran off, heading out into the stream to watch them go. He looked back at the cave where Mewtwo stood, only taking a second to wave goodbye to the purple pokemon with a paw before dashing off. He had to get back to Rhyme City.

DJ Vector was getting worried. His partner had taken a day off yesterday, and hadn't turned up since. He'd been worried about DJ 'Vee's (The eevee had never given him any name outside of his stage title) health for a while now, and since the eevee never showed up for work the entire afternoon, Vector was considering going to look for him.

But a sudden bark in Pokespeech roused him out of his thoughts, and he realized that he didn't need to after all. The eevee was trotting down the street, heading straight for DJ Vector. He looked dirtier than a ratatta after a dumpster-diving session, but that was the norm for him. What made DJ Vector glance twice was the happy look on the eevee's face. He'd never seen his partner like that in… ever.

Alex began to speed up as he got closer to DJ Vector, the human eagerly letting him jump onto his lap.

"Yes; I'm happy to see you too," The DJ muttered as Alex practically smothered him in fluff. They stayed like that for almost a minute, each one tightly embracing the other.

"You know what?" DJ Vector asked, brushing some of the dead leaves out of Alex's fur coat. "I didn't book for today. What do you say we go over to my house and get you all cleaned up? Maybe fed?"

And for possibly the first time in his life as a pokemon, Alex was okay with that.


	3. The One About the Heat

3.

The One About the Heat

It was only the first week of summer in Rhyme City, and all the people and pokemon who had lamented summer's departure last year were already back to wishing for it to end again. For Rhyme City was located next to a rainforest, and when the metropolis wasn't being flooded under dozens of light spring showers, it was being scorched to death by the hot summer sun. It was all the secret underground Cult of Mew could do to pray that the chance tornado didn't suddenly appear and wipe them all out.

Vendors were selling portable shade in the street for ridiculously high prices, and it was said that if you were discreet about it, you could even fry a pokemon egg in the middle of the Downtown District. The fire-types, with all their heat resistance, were having a field day.

In short, it was the Worst Day Ever for Vulpix.

She'd travelled all the way from Mt. Lanakila along with Mother to see what was being heralded by pokemon all over the world as 'The Best Place on Earth To Live' (And also because the humans had invaded Mt. Lanakila a few months ago, and she couldn't even steal a peaceful five minutes to herself without some idiot trainer and their pet monster lobbing poke-balls at her!) , but she'd never expected it to be this _hot! _

Unlike her fiery brethren, she wasn't suited to the heat at all. Every step she took felt like the pavement was burning holes through her paw pads, and it was all she could do to keep her tails from dragging on the ground as she walked. She felt like she was melting!

"You know, I still don't buy it." A vulpix of the red, fiery, _heat-resistant_ variety walked alongside her, perfectly at home under the scalding summer sun. "Ten poke-dollars says you're just doing this for attention."

His name was… Briar (It was hard for her to dig things up in her brain under this heat), and he'd met up with her not long after she and Mother had departed the humongous Moving Rail Thingy that had taken them into the city. Her mother and Briar's were family friends, and so Vulpix and Briar had been courteously shoved out into Rhyme City to 'play' while their mothers caught up with each other over a plate of berries that only grew in warm weather.

Needless to say, he had changed since the last time they'd met. And not in a good way at all, she decided.

"How much makeup is that, anyway?" Briar asked, smirking at Vulpix like a stuck up prince as he walked. "I heard your lot cover yourselves in snow so you don't stick out much."

"Great deduction, _genius_," Vulpix hissed out under her breath between desperate pants. "If I was wearing _snow_ on my coat all the way here, then why hasn't it melted off yet?"

"Why," Briar stated, a proud smirk on his snout at what he thought must have been a very clever deduction, "It is melting."

That was when Vulpix snapped out of her hazy, heat-induced stupor, and took the time to look over herself properly. For once in his life, Briar had been right: her tails were steadily dripping water onto the ground behind her. It was almost like they were melting- like _she was melting_.

Vulpix began to pant in horror as those three words ran through her head, and for the first time in what felt like ages, she could think clearly again.

She knew that vulpix from Mount Lanakila had an artificial method of self-cooling, but she had never been able to master that- and until today, she'd never have thought she'd needed to. She rattled through the options in her head. Shade. She had to get some shade!

As he watched Vulpix tremble silently in the middle of the street, Briar was beginning to realize that it really wasn't a joke after all.

"Vulpix?" he asked tensely, poking at the ice fox with a paw. However, he sent himself sprawling to the ground in momentary shock when she let out a sudden shriek of horror and sprinted off to the nearest shady spot, leaving a steady trail of dripping water behind her.

Vulpix dashed towards the nearest shady spot in sight- the sunless circles cast by a row of umbrellas hanging from a street vendor's nearby table. Once she was within the confines of the shade, she finally relaxed, catching her breath. She would recover… but she needed time. And maybe some water. Water sounded really nice, in fact. Ice cold water with even colder ice cubes… And if she couldn't have that, she'd just freeze it herself…

"It's ten dollars an umbrella. And I expect them back by sundown."

Vulpix snapped out of her trance and looked up at the portable shade vendor; a gruff-looking human man accompanied by a floatzel.

"I… I'm not here to buy anything… I just… need to relax… for a minute…" She panted out.

Floatzel translated that to the man using a series of paw gestures. The man frowned.

"One minute." He set a timer on the table, and let it start ticking. "And then it's pay or bust."

Vulpix took a look at the scorching heat outside the umbrella. Paying for an umbrella wouldn't be so bad… But she'd left her pokemon purse with Mother. And she doubted she had the strength to carry it in her current state anyway.

She could hear the timer ticking down as she tried to recover herself, every single tick burning itself into the back of her brain. 34 seconds… 33 seconds…. 32 seconds… Vulpix's ears drooped as she realized she would soon be faced with the cruel reality: She might not make it back out of the sun in time. She might not make it back out at all. Just the thought of it all made her want to break down in tears. Travelling to the world's first pokemon utopia just to meet her end at the hands of the heat? What a horrible way to end life! And what about Mother? What would Mother do without her?

"10 dollars, you said?"

Briar walked up to the counter, glancing haughtily at Floatzel as he went. "It just so happens I can meet that."

Vulpix perked back up in hope as Briar produced ten metal coins from the small sack hanging around his neck and handed them to Floatzel. Was he really… ?

The man counted the money, and then gestured to one of the dingier umbrellas on the far left. Briar took it by the pokemon handle in his mouth and carried it over to Vulpix.

"Ughth," he stated in disgust, his words muffled by the umbrella. "Thith ith one oth the_ flavored_ oneth. You're lucky ith wath only then dollarth."

Vulpix dashed over under the umbrella's shade, almost giddy with delight. Away from the sun's broiling heat at last, she almost felt back to her usual perky self.

"Thank you… Briar," She told him. "I didn't know you cared that much."

"Don'th be thilly," He shot back at her through the umbrella handle. "We had a beth. I loth. I'm a pokemon oth my word."

That wasn't his real reason, and Vulpix knew it. But she kept that tidbit of information to herself, instead keeping a giddy smile upon her face in silence.

Briar looked at her, a slight expression of annoyance showing itself upon his face.

"Wath? Ith my hair curling uth again?"

"Just a little."

"Yoi're therrible."

"Well, that's my job! Who else would spend their precious time annoying you?"

"Anth ather I goth you your prethioish thade…"

"Aww… You know you would have done it anyway."

(-o- )

This was written for the Summer 2019 Fanfic Contest on the Pokewrite Forum, using the prompt "Write a fic based around "Heat." How you define 'heat is entirely up to you."! I hope everyone liked it… If you want to submit your own entry to the contest, you can absolutely do so (But you only have until July 1st for the first round...)!

I hope everyone liked it...


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